Request For Proposal (RFP) Chha Jaa Brand Refresh: Strategic and Creative Partner for Girl Effect (Individual Consultant) At Girl Effect

Top Line Objective:

Girl Effect India is looking to procure the services of a Brand Strategist to help refresh a culturally resonant content and technology brand for young girls and women in India.

The consultant will be tasked with updating the brand positioning and strategy, the brand personas, the brand tone of voice, the brand’s visual system, the iconography and illustration style of Girl Effect India’s existing youth brand, Chhaa Jaa or a new brand based on learnings and research.

Who We Are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that connects girls to the resources and support she needs to overcome barriers, see themselves differently and unleash their full potential. We believe that the most powerful force to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty is GIRLS. When you connect GIRLS to what they need, unleash the limits communities set for them, and change how girls see themselves- they change the world. That’s the Girl Effect.

Our approach redefines what girls think they can and should do. We do this by building digital and media technologies that girls want, trust and need.From chatbots and applications to chat shows and TV dramas our approach uses modern technologies to reach girls where they are today.

Our reach is 23 million and counting.

We are girl centered. We engage girls through evidence based social and behavior change. We meet girls where they are today, in the spaces, on the platforms and channels they trust and love. We work with governments to transform systems to work for HER.

We reach girls across the world, where they are -online and offline, to support them at the critical moments in life when choices around their health, education and economic future need to be made.

We use our expertise in behavior change science to motivate and equip girls with information and support to help them see a different future for themselves, act on those choices, and drive greater demand for the opportunities and services available to them.

Chhaa Jaa in India, Tujibebe in Tanzania, Yegna in Ethiopia – are some of our youth brands. They exist across multiple channels – digital ( Meta, Google and other SM platforms), TV, radio, print and offline. Where required and relevant, we also use white label brands for specific campaigns.

Girl Effect in India

In 2019, Girl Effect launched Chhaa Jaa, a digital-first youth programme that helps girls in India build the confidence to make choices and changes in their lives – from accessing information about her body and services around her to negotiating about education choices or whether to use contraception. Chhaa Jaa was designed keeping in mind adolescent girls between 17-19 years, currently in higher education, and accessible online via mobile – whether girls own or borrow a mobile phone.

Over the last four years, we have invested in setting up key online assets and infrastructure that can be leveraged to deliver programmes under a range of thematics for older adolescent girls. We have built a multi-product digital ecosystem of products – across ‘broadcast’ and ‘interactive’ features – that are social media-based and available to girls whenever they need it.

This includes:

• Inspiring and enabling social and behavior change content on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube through Chaajaa
• A chatbot on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp that allows girls to explore taboo topics in a safe 1:1 space and nudges them to connect her with health services called Bol Behen
• And a website aggregating youth-friendly services and is updated regularly with blog content.
• A girls-only Facebook group to experience social support and a sense of community Called BAK BAK Gang

Project Context

What we need:

2024 brings with it big plans for Chhaa Jaa.

Our learnings across these four years have strongly pointed to the fact that change cannot happen by enabling just her. For our girl to realize her true potential, we need to enable and educate the immediate influencers around and in her life which we have identified to primarily be her peers, parents and partner.

For the purpose of this project, we want to refresh the digital Chhaa Brand centered around girls and boys aged 18-24 years old who come from low-mid income households.

The Chhaa Jaa brand will evolve from being a girl-centric brand to a youth brand that keeps the girl at the center. This means the brand will now speak to both boys and girls about the needs of the girl.

Moreover, increased digital access has also increased aspirations for our target audience as they are now exposed to more content than ever before. Which means, their role models and their needs have possibly changed. They possibly aspire for much more than they did before.

The brand seeks to be aspirational yet relatable and authentic, rooted in her current realities but raring to go. It seeks to help her break through gender and social norms that have so far held her back and help her navigate the new world of opportunity safely.

Keeping in mind the renewed aspirations for Chhaa Jaa, we want to commence an exercise where we refresh the brand’s ethos + look and feel to reflect our audience’s current needs, cultural influences and aspirations.

What we need to Refresh

• The Brand Positioning
• The Brand Purpose
• The Brand Story
• The Chhaa Jaa Girls & Boys [Personas]
• The Role of The Brand in their Life
• The Tone of Voice
• The Influencers Who Can Represent The Brand
• The Brand Dos and Donts/Guardrails

The One Line Brief

How might we refresh a culturally resonant brand for adolescent girls ages 18 to 24 years that can also stretch to welcome partners to her world – as needed?

Brand Target Audience

Primary: Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) aged 18 to 24 years old

Secondary: Adolescent Boys and Young Men(ABYM) aged 18 to 24 years old

Primary Themes

Sexual & Reproductive Health | Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence |Mental Wellbeing

The Scope

Brand Strategy

• Audience Immersion: Conduct primary research with our target audience to understand their barriers, needs, influences and motivations.
• Secondary Research: Conduct a competition landscape and perception mapping of organizations and brands doing similar work in India with our target audience.
• Brand Positioning: Distill insights from our learnings, identify and define Chhaa Jaa’s unique positioning in the world of our target audience using brand matrix frameworks. Craft a clear brand positioning statement to articulate the unique value proposition for adolescent girls and her circle of influence.
• Brand Values: Articulating the core values that shape the brand for our audience. This becomes our ethos, our non-negotiables.

Brand Personality

• Traits – Who are the CJ girls and boys? What are they like? What is their attitude? What do they aspire to be? The brand needs new energy and should reflect different personalities
• Personas: Developing personas for both the primary and secondary target audiences of the brand
• Role Models: Defining who the role models for the Chhaa Jaa girls and boys are and what they embody. Suggest new influencers/ role models they aspire to be like.
• Tone of Voice: What kind of language do they speak? So far the brand has been very North Indian – we would like to go away from this to reflect what is truly Indian and therefore multicultural and representative of the entire country. Refresh the brand tone of voice using key traits that reflect the brand positioning, values and attributes for adolescent girls and her circle of influence.

Deliverables

A brand book that encapsulates the brand refresh comprising The Brand Positioning, The Brand Purpose, The Brand Story, The Chhaa Jaa Girls & Boys [Personas], The Role of The Brand in their Life, The Tone of Voice, The Influencers Who Can Represent The Brand, The Brand Dos and Donts/Guardrails

Key Moments

1. Regular check-ins with the team, 3-4 workshops around key moments.
2. Documentation of strategic decisions around Chhaa Jaa’s brand refresh
3. End-to-end testing of the brand – from a positioning and identity perspective

Project Work Plan Timelines

RFP sent out

13th November ’24

Proposal Submission

25th November ’24

Final Selection

29th November ’24

Contract, Safeguarding agreement, Onboarding

30th November to 5th December ’24

Brand design and refresh study

5th December ’24 to 28th February ’25

Final shareouts and handover of brand guidelines

28th February ’25

Who You Are

An individual with:

• Rich experience in global and local brand-building.
• The ability to think strategically and creatively to understand how to best position the new brand, draw from others’ learnings, use the test results to refine our understanding and finally, creatively execute the new brand identity.
• Experience in crafting strong brand strategies that resonate with youth demographics.
• Experience developing large-scale, successful youth brands. A deep understanding of youth culture, trends, and behavior.
• Strong understanding of the local context and/or team members who understand the local context
• Experience in developing social impact brands is desirable

The individual will need to:

• Build an execution plan keeping our timelines in mind
• Facilitate regular sessions with the GE team – for concepts, brainstorming, ideas and feedback
• Execute the deliverables mentioned above

Expected Commitment

• The assignment is expected to take no more than 6-8 weeks from contracting to completion of final deliverables.
• The assignment period starts in December 2024 and ends by Mid February 2025

Procurement Timelines

• Terms of reference published:13th November 2024
• Questions/Clarification Deadline: 15th November 2024
• Deadline for proposal submission: 25th November 2024
• Supplier selection, contracting and briefing: 5th December 2024
• Project commencement: 5th December 2024

Reporting

This engagement will be managed by the Creative Lead in India and the Global Create Team, who will work with the successful consultant to ensure its timely and thorough execution.

Location

The consultant should have local operations (or have done several projects) in India and must be conducive to working with teams in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, the UK, the USA, and India.

Proposal submissions

Your proposal (max 10 pages), should you be interested, should cover the following:

• Your understanding of the brief and your strategic approach to the brief outlining your frameworks and process to arrive at the brand book.
• Credentials/Profile/CV – Please showcase any previous work that you consider to be relevant to what we are trying to achieve and how we approach our work, and the audience that we cater to. Describe the qualifications, experience, and capabilities of the firm or consultant in providing the requested services.
• Reference – Provide at least three references for similar contracts with a description of the service provided and the contract periods of performance.
• Project Execution – The work plan, and timeline describing how you will implement the design and development process for this project.
• Information on Additional Services – please provide any information on additional services that you believe would be pertinent and align with GE’s mission, vision, and values.

Financial Proposal

• A breakdown of the financial proposal in INR indicating the project fee broken into the brand strategy work and the visual development work, and all applicable reimbursable expenses.
• All applicable taxes should be quoted separately;

In their technical proposal, the bidder must demonstrate an understanding of the requirements described in the RFP and demonstrate how the bidder will meet the requirements of the evaluation criteria.

Technical and Financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents. Financial bids will not be opened until the technical evaluation and then only for those proposals deemed qualified and responsive.

GE is not liable for any cost incurred during the award/contract preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of GE.

VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for 90 days from the date of bid closure.

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are listed below.

Technical Evaluation

• Your understanding of the brief – [30%]
• Credentials and profile – [20%]
• Project Work Plan – [10%]
• Experience in building youth brands in India [5%]
• Evidence of a minimum of three contactable references – [5%]

Financial Evaluation

• Value for money/proposed budget breakdown – 30%

Copyright

All materials/documents arising from this consultancy work shall remain the property of Girl Effect.

Tax

Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regard to provisions of India’s local jurisdiction tax legislation when developing their proposals.

Disclaimer

GE reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GE shall inform the ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow.

Please note: We will evaluate only proposals submitted following the application process outlined in the TOR and using our specified email address (suppliers@girleffect.org).

Safeguarding

You may be required to undertake safeguarding checks. Shortlisted consultants will be assessed on our organisational values at the interview stage. The successful consultant will be expected to adhere to our safeguarding policy. We encourage you to read and understand our safeguarding policy, the executive summary of which can be found here. We have zero tolerance for all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff.

Equal Opportunities

Girl Effect Services is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of and works extensively with the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy service organizations and individuals with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.